The founder and co-owner of the world’s most valuable carmaker, Elon Musk, has called for cost-saving measures. He called on his managers to prepare a plan to lay off a tenth of employees. Although he later softened his words, it was the first signal from the car industry that the sector was expecting difficult times.
Car sales in the United States
New car sales in the United States reached 12.7 million units in May. This is a quarter less than before the coronavirus crisis. Whereas until now the main brake on vehicle production has been the lack of important components (mainly chips), now the problem is beginning to shift from the supply side towards demand. This is due to the highest inflation in the last 40 years, which not only the USA is facing.
Imminent danger
And Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, seems to be aware of the danger, and has therefore called for austerity measures, which will mainly affect Tesla employees. Whether in the form of layoffs or wage freezes. “I have a super bad feeling,” said the richest man on the planet, warning of a global economic recession. Past experience shows that economic difficulties affect the automotive industry as one of the first sectors.
